UTEP vs Rice 3/3/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Rice Owls (15-13) vs. UTEP Miners (16-12)
March 3, 2022 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: UTEP Miners -6.5 ; Over/Under: 144
(Get latest betting odds)
The Rice Owls and the UTEP Miners meet Thursday in college basketball action from Don Haskins Center. Rice sits at 15-13 on the year. The Owls beat Southern Miss in their last appearance. As for UTEP, they’re currently 16-12 and coming off a loss to UAB. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Rice was sitting at 13-8 overall back in early February but things haven’t gone so well since then. The Owls are amid a 2-5 stretch right now with losses to UTEP, North Texas, UAB, FIU and LA Tech amid wins over Jarvis Christian and Southern Miss.
On Saturday versus Southern Miss, the Owls blew a 33-29 halftime lead and needed overtime to decide the game. Rice scored 13 in the extra period on the way to a 77-72 win. Tops in production was Carl Pierre with 17 points and 10 boards.
Over on the Miners’ side, they were doing fairly well in early February as well with a 14-8 record. UTEP is 2-4 in their last half-dozen games, though. They’ve got losses to North Texas, Marshall, Middle Tennessee and UAB in that time.
On Saturday versus UAB, the Miners held a 34-27 advantage going into the second half. UTEP was outscored 32-42 in the second during a 69-66 loss. Souley Boum was the leading scorer on the team with 26 points and two assists in the defeat.
The Miners are 3-8-1 ATS in their last 12 Thursday games and 7-2 ATS in their last nine overall. The under is 4-1 in UTEP’s last five Thursday games.
Meanwhile, the Owls are 1-5 ATS in their last six overall and 6-16 ATS in their last 22 road games. The over is 4-0 in Rice’s last four overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Rice in this one. You could probably make a good case either way, though; this should be a good matchup. The Owls have certainly had some rough outings during this 2-5 stretch, but the good news is that they’re still scoring pretty well. Rice has hit 68 or more in four straight games but they’re allowing a lot of points on the other side too.
The last time these teams met up, UTEP secured a 72-70 road win on February 5. I like this one to be a tense, competitive affair as well, and I think the Owls can get in there.
